


Kintsugi

by SensationalSunburst



Series: Small Angry Gardeners [4]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Andrew and Neil Are The Best Possible Babysitters, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Kevin the Art Nerd, M/M, Multi, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 02:22:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15596130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SensationalSunburst/pseuds/SensationalSunburst
Summary: Kintsugi:(金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い, "golden repair"), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise“He saw our scars and thought they'd been fixed with gold, like the pottery in the book.” Neil blinked, stunned.“Kids this age are honest.” Andrew said, “They haven't learned to lie.”





	Kintsugi

**Author's Note:**

> Definition from Wikipediaaaa

“Be good for your uncles.” Kevin said, "I'll be back in time for dinner." He kissed the side of Leigh’s head, right in the middle of his springy curls and stood with a groan. His knees cracked as he rose to his full height, but he didn’t stumble as Leigh wrapped his arms around his shin for one last hug. The three year old swung back from his father’s leg and smiled, already twitching with excitement. 

“Mmmm! Bye!”

“Do you want lunch? Neil made the Special Sandwiches.” Andrew drew Leigh’s attention away from Kevin as he descended the porch steps as the striker was unable to make it for more than two feet before Leigh called out to him again, waving goodbye. But Kevin stopped every time, and waved, smiling even as his coach shouted from the driver side window for him to hurry the fuck up. 

“Eel is good.” Leigh nodded. Andrew returned the nod and getured into the house. 

“Yes, he is, isn’t he.”

-

“I'm telling you if we swap Nyugen in for Daniels we'll get better coverage of the left side of the court-” Neil said. He wiped another round of cheeto dust off his fingers before wringing the napkin between his hands, frustrated. Next to him, seated on his booster seat, Leigh’s eyes tracked the movement of his hands with laser focus. It was, Andrew noted with amusement, the exact same expression Kevin got when he was attempting to work something out. 

“Robertson isn't fast enough to cover the gaps he'll leave on the right side-” He said. Leigh carefully pushed his plate away, ignoring his remaining cheetos, to reach for Neil’s closest hand. 

“What's up, Leigh? Do you need more water?” Neil asked. He leaned forward with a small, fond smile, dropping his hands to the table as he dismissed their discussion. 

“The shiny cracks, they're still good.” Leigh said. He blinked his big green eyes up at Neil, expression serious. 

“... What?”

“The cracks. They're pretty. They… the people make them shiny and then they're still good.” 

“The scars?” Andrew asked and Leigh nodded, wiggling in his seat to face him. 

“Yes, the cracks.” Leigh reached out and framed the row of scars on Andrew's forearm between his tiny hands and tilted it towards Neil. Andrew simply blinked, allowing the three year old to move him in a way that would have gotten anyone else seriously injured. “It's filled up, and shiny. So it's still good.”

“Where did you see it, Leigh?” Andrew asked. 

“Daddy read it. Kitty oogy.” 

“Kitty what?” Neil asked. Leigh abandoned his lunch to push away from the table and fully wiggle onto Andrew's lap. Andrew silently brought his arms up to hold him steady as he reached out to begin picking apart Andrew's half eaten sandwich. 

“Cookies later?” Leigh asked. 

“Yeah,” Neil said, “Sure, but kitty what?”

“Forget it, we’ll find out when Kevin gets back.” 

-

 

“What the hell is kitty googly?” Neil demanded as he opened the door on Kevin’s second knock. The sun was setting behind him, and Kevin flicked his sunglasses to the top of his head to glare down at Neil. From the living room rose a screech of excitement and Leigh came skidding around the corner to launch himself at his father’s knees. Kevin bent and caught him without breaking eye contact with Neil, cuddling his son into his chest with a hand in his hair even through his confused glare. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” 

“Leigh said that our scars were still good. Something about making them shiny. Called it kitty oogy.” 

“Kintsugi.” Kevin said. 

“Kitty oogy!” Leigh shouted. 

“Kin.” Kevin said. He pressed a kiss to Leigh’s forehead before pulling him back far enough to see his face. 

“Kin!”

“Tsu.”

“Tsu!”

“Gi.”

“Gi!”

“ _ Kintsugi.” _

“Kit oogy!”

“Good job, Leigh!” Kevin beamed, he swung the toddler onto his hip and began a tiny sway as Leigh burrowed his face into his father’s coat.  “It's a Japanese art form that uses an adhesive that looks like, or is mixed with gold to fix broken pottery. We've been reading a book about Japanese art at bedtime.”

“Just a little light reading then?” Andrew smirked. 

“It's educational, asshole.”

“He saw our scars and thought they'd been fixed with gold, like the pottery in the book.” Neil said, stunned. 

“Kids this age are honest.” Andrew said, “They haven't learned to lie.” 

Neil got the complicated look on his face that indicated he was having  _ emotions _ and stepped forward to run a gentle hand over Leigh’s hair. Andrew sighed at their matching expressions of awe and shook his head. They were all saps, but he couldn’t exclude himself from the assessment.

Not after his Amazon shopping spree earlier. 

“Oh Jesus, like the kid in the grocery store. He had acne and Leigh decided to screech about his 'polka dots.’ Top of his lungs, screaming.” Kevin groaned, and launched into the story as Neil lead him inside. 

-

“Andrew? We got… metallic markers?” Neil asked two days later as he sat at the kitchen table sorting mail. Attempted to sort mail. Attempted, as very time he neatened a stack of bills, King knocked them off the table and he took five minutes to pick them back up to avoid jostling Sir, who’d taken over his lap. 

“For Leigh.” Andrew said, glancing up over his glasses from his latest novel. 

“No shit, I thought you took up body painting.” Neil snapped, but then he paused, gears visibly turning in his head. He glanced down at the value pack of markers, then back up at Andrew, a flush starting in his cheeks and a question in the tilt of his head.  

“Yes, King Midas.” Andrew sighed. 

Sir yowled as she was swiftly removed from her throne. 

-

 

“Mommy! Look! Kittsoogi!” Leigh declared, lifting Neil’s arm, covered in metallic gold marker up for his mother’s inspection. From her lawn chair, Thea leaned forward, a smile blossoming on her lip as she took in Andrew and Neil, seated side by side, knees knocking, on the lawn just behind her son. Andrew’s sunglasses hid his eyes, but there was something softening his usually stoic expression, especially as he glanced to Neil, who’d been doodled on like a coloring book. But he was smiling and he was  _ happy,  _ utterly unbothered as his scars were turned into a child’s canvas. 

“Good job, Leigh! They look beautiful.” Thea cooed, she set down her wine glass to pull out her phone and snap a picture.  

“Good job, Leigh.” Kevin agreed, he offered a high five as Leigh raced over to where he was stationed at the grill, making him jump for it. 

“You did great!”  Neil said, and Andrew felt his lips twitch into a smile. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, as always, for reading. Please feel free to drop a comment below.


End file.
